The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the head of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

, and the High Court of Justiciary. The Lord President holds the title of Lord Justice General of Scotland and the head of the High Court of Justiciary ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'', as the two offices were combined in 1836. The Lord President has authority over any court established under

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

, except for the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Court of the Lord Lyon. The current Lord President of the Court of Session is Lord Pentland, who was appointed to the position on 3 February 2025 succeeding Lord Carloway They are paid according to salary group 1.1 of the Judicial Salaries Scale, which in 2016 was £222,862.

Remit and jurisdiction

Head of the judiciary

As Lord President of the Court of Session and is the most senior

, the head of the

, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, and the

. Under Section 2(6) of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, the Lord President has authority over the judiciary of any court established under

, except for the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Court of the Lord Lyon. The

Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court () is a Courts of Scotland, Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to Tenant farmer, agricultural tenancies, and matters relat ...

, which until 1 April 2017 was administered separately, was transferred to the

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) () is an independent Public bodies of the Scottish Government, public body which is responsible for the administration of the Courts of Scotland, courts and tribunals of Scotland. The Service is ...

. The 2008 act states: The Lord President is supported by the Judicial Office for Scotland which was established on 1 April 2010 as a result of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, and the Lord President chairs the corporate board of the

. The Lord President, and the wider judiciary, is advised on matters relating to the administration of justice by the Judicial Council for Scotland, which is a non-statutory body established in 2007. There had been plans for a statutory judges' council but these plans were abandoned in favour of a non-statutory council convened by the Lord President.

Inner House

The Lord President presides over the 1st Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session. The Inner House is the part of the Court of Session which acts as a

court of appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

for cases decided the Outer House and Sheriff Appeal Court, and hearing appeals on questions of law from the Sheriff Appeal Court,

, Court of the Lord Lyon, and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Official Oath

In Scotland the Official Oath is taken before the Lord President of the Court of Session.

Lord Justice General

The Lord President is also the Lord Justice General of Scotland and the head of the High Court of Justiciary ''ex officio'', with the two offices having been combined in 1836.The office of Lord Justice General is derived from the justiciars who were appointed from at least the twelfth century. From around 1567 onwards it was held heritably by the Earl of Argyll until the heritability was resigned to

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

in 1607.

Officeholders

Justiciars

(called Lord Chief Justices by Scot of Scotstarvet). * Argadus, Captain of Argyll, in the reign of Ethodius * Comes Dunetus; in the reign of King William the Lion. ( Donnchad II, Earl of Fife) * William Comyn * Richard Comyn * David, Earl of Huntingdon (died 1219) * Walter Clifford, Justiciary of the Lothians * 1216: Allan, Justiciary to King Alexander II * 1224: William Cumin, Earl of Buchan * Walter (died 1241), son of Allan High Steward of Scotland * 1239: William, Earl of Ross, "Lord Chief Justice of Scotland" *

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(d.1283), High Steward of Scotland to King Alexander II * 1253: Alexander Cumin, Earl of Buchan * 1366: Robert de Erskine, Justiciary South of the Forth for King David II * bef 1372: Alan de Lawedre of The Bass, Whitslaid, & Haltoun, Justiciary South of the Forth, (he received a pension for holding this post in 1374). * 1437: James Douglas, Earl of Avondale and Lord Balveny * 1446: Patrick de Ogilvy, Justiciary South of the Forth * 1457: John, Lord Lindsay of the Byres, Justiciary South of the Forth * William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney & Caithness (d.1480), Justiciary North of the Forth for King James II * 1477: John Haldane of Gleneagles, Justiciary North of the Forth * Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes (died after 1482), and Robert, 2nd Lord Lyle, Justiciaries South of the Forth * Andrew, Earl of Crawfurd, and George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, Justiciaries North of the Forth * 1488:

Robert Lyle, 2nd Lord Lyle Robert Lyle, 2nd Lord Lyle (died 1497) was a Scottish nobleman from Duchal Castle, Kilmacolm, Duchal Castle in Renfrewshire. He was at one point a loyal supporter of James III of Scotland, King James III and served as an ambassador to England in th ...

(died ), "Lord Chief Justice" * 1489: John Lyon, 3rd Lord Glamis (died 1 April 1497), and John Drummond, 1st Lord Drummond: "Justice-General" * 1492:

, and John Lyon, 3rd Lord Glamis * 1494: John Drummond, 1st Lord Drummond (died c1519) * 1504: Andrew Gray, 2nd Lord Gray, and John Kennedy, 2nd Lord Kennedy * 1514: Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll * 1526: Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie * 1532: Alexander Mylne, Abbot of Cambuskenneth * 1537: Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll * 1567: Sir Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll, (d.1584) (heritably) * 1578: Sir Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll, (re-appointment?) * 1589: Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll, (who exchanged the heritable office of Lord Chief Justice in 1607, for the heritable Lieutenancy of Argyll and Lorn, and most of The Isles).

Lord Justice-General

Lord President

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord President of the Court of Session Lists of judges in Scotland